Reunion
by DamiaMulder
Summary: AU. While on vacation, Wedge meets a family member...


Disclaimer: All characters belong to Lucas and their respective authors (except Lora Fel, Denna Leih, and Aliryll Asynri, they're MINE:P) No infringement intended. No money being made off this, so don't sue. 

Comments and complaints alike go to: Damiamulder(at)hotmail(dot)com.

Summary: While on vacation, Wedge meets a family member.

Author's note: 05.13.2006 Okay, got bored and decided to go through this one today. Revised it a little, put italics in, but I'm really not caring much for it anymore. Might just take it completely down in the future.

Reunion  
by Jessa

Twelve X-wing snubfighters roared down into the atmosphere. This was a pleasant world, with clear, aqua-colored skies and vast plains of waving purple grasses.

The comm unit popped in Wedge Antilles's X-wing. A female voice came through. _"Allamar Spaceport to incoming X-wings. Transmitting coordinates for landing field north of Ryoko City. Follow the beacon and have a pleasant stay. Spaceport out."  
_  
"You heard the lady, Wraiths. Let's go," Wedge said with a smile.

oOoOoOo

"There they are, Lora. Exactly as directed," Denna Leih said, pointing at the sky.

"And right on time." Lora stood at the edge of the landing field as the dozen snubfighters set down gently on the duracrete, her shortish brown hair waving in the slight breeze. She waited there as the pilots shut down and emerged from their ships, then strode toward them, Denna Leih following.

"Wraith Squadron, I presume?" At the nod of one of the pilots, she continued. "Welcome to Allamar. My name is Lora, and this is Denna Leih," she gestured toward her Twi'lek companion. "If you would come this way, we'll see to your accommodations." The two young women led the pilots to a waiting skimmer large enough to hold all of them comfortably. Denna Leih took the controls and Lora sat in the back, chatting with the pilots and rebuffing Janson's advances good-naturedly.

oOoOoOo

"She reminds me of someone. But I can't think of who," Aliryll Asynri, the new pilot in Wraith Squadron, said. "What did she say her name was?"

"Lora." This was from Dia.

"That's it? Just 'Lora'? No family name?"

"That's what she introduced herself as. Apparently, if she has a family name, she doesn't want us to know it."

"Do we have a conspiracy brewing?" Lora asked as she walked up, smiling.

Asynri flinched a little, having not heard Lora coming. "Um, no! No conspiracy here." She gave a sheepish grin as Lora's eyebrow lifted in amused curiosity.

"Well, I guess I'll leave you two to your conversation." She glanced towards the simulator units at the back corner of the room. "I'll see you some other time." She flashed another smile and headed for the corner.

Recognition flashed through Asynri. "_That's_ who she looks like!" she breathed.

Dia looked confused. "_Who's_ who she looks like?"

"You didn't notice?" Dia shook her head. "Have you ever seen the commander smile?"

"Well, yes, but-" Realization dawned. "No way. Itmust be coincidence."

"What are you two conspiring about?" The two women jumped. Neither had heard the commander's approach.

"What _is_ it with the conspiracies today?"Asynri blurted before she could stop herself. "Oops... Ah, sorry sir. It's nothing, sir. We were just talking about a resemblance Lora bears to a mutual acquaintance."

"Ah. Where is she? I'd like to talk with her."

"She headed toward the sims, sir. I don't know if she was just going to watch or if she was actually going to fly."

"Thank you. Carry on."

oOoOoOo

"Who's flying?"

"Don't know, Wedge. But whoever it is, they're _good_," Wes Janson said without turning from the monitor set above the sim unit.

"Anyone in the other?" Wedge asked, watching the pilot's kills rise.

"Nope."

"There is now." He hopped into the simulator cockpit. This one was an X-wing sim, as opposed to the TIE sim that the other pilot was in. He strapped in and fired up the sim.

oOoOoOo

_"I have a new contact at the shield generator,"_ Lora's computer-generated wingman said. _"Sensors classify it as fighter class, probably X-wing."  
_  
"Acknowledged. Gray group, this is Leader. Break by wingpairs and commence strafing runs. Gray Two, on me. We're going to blow up that generator." Lora allowed herself a small predatory smile. Whoever was in the single X-wing was either stupid, suicidal, or convinced they were very good. Possibly all three, though that last would seem to be in keeping with the sort of massive ego a lot of fighter jocks had.

Well, she'd see if they were as good as they thought they were.

oOoOoOo

Wedge glanced at his sensor board. There was a total of five friendlies left. As well as two hostiles incoming fast. Two of the green dots winked out as they met with the incoming reds. _Three left. One of which is me_. He could hear the approaching TIEs somewhere off to his left. Wedge turned toward them and accelerated. A moment later they were in range. _Standard head to head_, he thought. _This is too easy_.

He fired.

Four beams of red energy shot from his ship. Just before they hit the lead eyeball, though, the spherical fighter dove straight down, the laser blasts missing by half a meter.

The two Imperial fighters continued on thier course for the shield generator. Wedge dropped in behind them and fired. The trailing fighter turned into a golden fireball as the twin ion engines that gave the ship its name exploded. He looked for the other TIE and found it strafing the generator. He fired again and it broke off its attack.

The fighter jumped straight up, then jinked to starboard and dove. Wedge followed. The TIE pilot pulled the small craft into a tight turn and was now heading straight for Wedge, lasers flashing. He could feel the impacts of the lasers on his shields and put more power into them. Steadily his shield strength lowered. He fired, but couldn't tell if he'd hit anything because of the light flashes.

His fighter rocked hard with the impact of a linked blast. Obviously he hadn't hit it. It still fired at him, then passed him. It turned again, the pilot obviously intending to put a shot into his relatively unprotected stern. Wedge didn't give the pilot that opportunity. He put his fighter into a complex series of twists, turns, rolls and dives designed to shake an enemy off his tail.

It worked. Almost.

As soon as he thought he'd shaken his pursuit, it dropped back into position and stitched his fighter with lots of low-power shots. A few hit the R-2 unit sitting behind the cockpit, taking it out of commission with a wail.

_This pilot's good. Taking full advantage of the TIE's maneuverability, speed and firepower. I'll have to be better than he is if I'm going to survive this one, even if it _is_ a sim.  
_  
Green laser fire bracketed him from above and below. He made a sharp turn to port, snapped up onto that S-foil, and continued through a tight loop. The TIE followed doggedly behind, still firing and missing by centimeters. One good shot hit his shield generator, taking out his shields and leaving him vulnerable.

His comm crackled and a woman's voice filled his cockpit, though the comm distortion made his attempts at identifying its owner virtually impossible. _"This must be the infamous Wedge Antilles. My father has told me quite a bit about you. Says you are one of the best pilots in the Rebellion. Or I suppose it's the New Republic now. I commend you. You've lasted much longer than most pilots who fly against me."  
_  
"I intend to last even longer. May I ask who I am addressing?"

_"You can ask, but you won't get an answer. Out."_ And she veered off toward the shield generator for another run. The generator exploded and the TIE pilot went screaming off to join her fellows in strafing the base she'd left them at.

Wedge fired at the retreating TIE. The shot grazed her starboard solar wing and sent the fighter into a spin. The pilot regained control quickly-halfway through her second revolution-and lined up for another head to head pass. They both knew only one would fly away from this engagement.

_"Gray group reports Rebel base destroyed,"_ Lora's comm specialist's voice said. She fired at the X-wing a fraction of a second before he fired. Her blasts were at full strength and linked. She saw Wedge's X-wing blow apart in a red-gold inferno, a split-second before her ownfighter was destroyed. The simulator cockpit went black.

Lora laughed. She'd vaped Wedge Antilles.

oOoOoOo

"Wedge! That was some great flying in there," Wes Janson greeted his friend enthusiastically.

"Not good enough, apparently," he replied, running a hand through sweat-dampened hair. "She vaped me." He sounded amazed.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, Commander," Kell Tainer said, "you got her, too."

The top hatch of the TIE simulator popped open and Lora emerged. Eyes popped all over the room. Who was this young woman with piloting skills good enough to vape Wedge Antilles? people began wondering. She walked over to where Wedge stood and offered her hand.

"Great flying, Commander. If I hadn't gotten lucky on my last shot, you would've lived." She paused, then grinned like a kid in a candy shop. "This is wonderful."

"What is?"

"Ever since I can remember, my father has told me stories of the 'old days' when he was a pilot. He told me of flying with you, and flying against you. He told me you were one of the best pilots in the Rebellion. I found out I had a talent for piloting, so I trained hard. I always wanted to meet you, see for myself how good you were."

"Do I measure up?"

"Definitely."

Wes, who had been oddly silent during the whole exchange, piped up. "Who's your father?"

"I believe you've heard of him. His name is Soontir Fel."

A sudden silence blanketed the room. Janson's jaw dropped. Wedge looked as if Kell had just kicked him in the head.

"You're... Fel's daughter?" he asked when he'd recovered his voice.

"I hope it's not some sort of crime."

"How is your mother?"

Lora looked taken aback at the sudden change of subject, but recovered almost immediately. "Mother's fine. She misses you. A lot. Sometimes she looks so sad, but she always acts happy. Probably for us kids. She told me, if I ever met you, to tell you that she's sorry for leaving, but she couldn't work on a refueling station. She said you'd understand."

"I do." He threw an arm around her shoulders. "How about we go sit somewhere and catch up?"

"I'd like that." And she smiled.

Fin


End file.
